Sway Bar End Links

[Excoastie]

I have been reading quite a bit about an upgraded sway bar. I have found that the handling is acceptable on my '21 RTL, so I don't feel that I need to upgrade it.

However, I have been reading about the plastic end links that are on the OEM sway bar, and I don't like the potential for failure of a few pieces of plastic.
I am considering the billet aluminum ones from Slingmods.

Is it necessary to do an alignment after swapping out the end links?

I tried to do a search, but nothing was ever mentioned about an alignment when doing ONLY the end links.

Thanks!

--Exco

 

[Wmoater]

You do “not” need to do an alignment after the links or sway is added or swapped. If it is brand new from the factory, you should be ok but many have had theirs aligned immediately. It’s a 50/50 if it was assembled and aligned correct. I had mine aligned after I added new shock adjusters, swaybar and front tires.

 

[RICZ]

You will notice some improvement switching from the OEM plastic links to metal links. I recommend you buy Bajaron's much better link. If you want to know why I say this, give Ron a call. He is a suspension guru and very honest. You say your your handling is adequate. It is, if you just pussy-foot around town. If you ride curvy to twisty roads, a Bajaron swaybar will make a dramatically noticeable handling improvement.
If you have not had a laser alignment, chances are about 97% your bike is out of alignment. The factory does a crappy job at that, if they even try at all.

 

[Peter Aawen]

.....

Is it necessary to do an alignment after swapping out the end links?

.....

Not necessary at all! :shocked:

As others have mentioned, changing JUST your anti-sway bar &/or the End Links won't do ANYTHING to your Spyder/Ryker's wheel alignment; they are completely separate parts of your suspension with little in common with the rest of it except that they ARE also parts of what is usually called 'the suspension' - the anti-sway bar & end links serve to tie the two indepentent sides of your suspension together via a 'torsional spring' (the anti-sway bar) so that together with the (also independent ) steering gear & the 'A' arms & shocks/coils et al, these parts can all combine to do their separate bits in order to provide a cohesive 'suspension' and steering function! hyea:

So if you've ONLY changed the anti-sway bar &/or the end links, then adjusting your alignment IS NOT something that should ever need to be done anyway! :lecturef_smilie:

However, as others have also sorta suggested, if your Spyder/Ryker has poor alignment beforehand &/or other 'suspension' issues, then while it's being worked on already to swap/replace the anti-sway bar &/or end links, it's a good opportunity to ALSO sort out any other dodgy or less than ideal suspension &/or alignment issues that may be present. :thumbup:

 

[Excoastie]

You will notice some improvement switching from the OEM plastic links to metal links. I recommend you buy Bajaron's much better link. If you want to know why I say this, give Ron a call. He is a suspension guru and very honest. You say your your handling is adequate. It is, if you just pussy-foot around town. If you ride curvy to twisty roads, a Bajaron swaybar will make a dramatically noticeable handling improvement.
If you have not had a laser alignment, chances are about 97% your bike is out of alignment. The factory does a crappy job at that, even they even try at all.

Thanks! I will look into the BR end links. I have not complaints on ride quality/ handling, regardless of the type of road I am on. I am looking to change the end links due to what I have read about
the potential of the plastic ones to fail easily/ early.

My bike tracks true; I don't know if an alignment was done, but I also don't notice any drift when going down the road that isn't related to the roads themselves. The same is true under braking.
This is what I tend to use as indicators if my cage needs an alignment (before the tires show an issue).

I appreciate your opinion!

Not necessary at all! :shocked:

As others have mentioned, changing JUST your anti-sway bar &/or the End Links won't do ANYTHING to your Spyder/Ryker's wheel alignment; they are completely separate parts of your suspension with little in common with the rest of it except that they ARE also parts of what is usually called 'the suspension' - the anti-sway bar & end links serve to tie the two indepentent sides of your suspension together via a 'torsional spring' (the anti-sway bar) so that together with the (also independent ) steering gear & the 'A' arms & shocks/coils et al, these parts can all combine to do their separate bits in order to provide a cohesive 'suspension' and steering function! hyea:

So if you've ONLY changed the anti-sway bar &/or the end links, then adjusting your alignment IS NOT something that should ever need to be done anyway! :lecturef_smilie:

However, as others have also sorta suggested, if your Spyder/Ryker has poor alignment beforehand &/or other 'suspension' issues, then while it's being worked on already to swap/replace the anti-sway bar &/or end links, it's a good opportunity to ALSO sort out any other dodgy or less than ideal suspension &/or alignment issues that may be present. :thumbup:

Thanks for an excellent layman's explanation of how the various components fall together.

As I stated above, I am looking to change out the end links due to what I have read about the crap/ plastic OEM ones failing.

--Exco

 

[Wmoater]

I agree with RICZ! Slingmods look like Ron’s original dogbone style. Bajaron’s bar and links are superior and about the same price. I know a lot about suspension, dealing with sleds, and he taught me a few things since I started riding the spyder. He is extremely knowledgeable and will give you his honest opinion. He’s not a salesperson to only sell his stuff.

 

[Quickdraw]

I put the BajaRon links on last week and I can tell you on the first ride, which was around 130 miles, I felt a huge difference. I probably won't do the sway bar as I'm saving up for Elka schocks next year because I have read that doing both is not necessary. That's what I've read. I don't know if it's true or not.